Little Boy

Thursday, July 12, 2012

I gazed out of the smudged glass windows. The street was bustling with life, teeming with people rushing here and there. The unchanging everyday sites of the city. I cast my gaze further into the glistening sea which stretched on and on - an awe inspiring gigantic body of scintillating water. However, the mesmerizing, wondrous and magnificent sight was marred by dark clouds congregating above it... like ominous prophets of doom. Perhaps it was a bad omen, and I should have taken note of it. However, I foolishly banished the minor flaw of the day from my mind. I focused on the flawless ocean - my destination.

Why was I headed for the ocean when exams were just around the corner? Well, of course, it was a class excursion to the underwater world. The bus was buzzing with lively chatter and full of eager anticipation.
Forty students leapt from their seats and eighty feet scrambled for the door as the vehicle trundled to a halt. Bounding out of the lumbering bus, we formed ourselves into tidy rows.

Trotting along behind our guide, we entered a magical world of strange plants and alien creatures. Speedy fishes zipped past us. Massive manta rays glided along swiftly. Deadly jellyfishes drifted along the sparkling water. Golden rays of sunlight filtered through the water and splashed across the walkway like spilt drops of molten gold.
I was awe stricken by the overwhelming beauty of this mysterious world. The monotonous voice of our guide faded into the background. The soporific effect of her dull droning speech wore off. I was completely entranced.
Stumbling along, my eyes were glued to the sight before me.

Then, I collided with something. I snapped back from my trance. Towering before me was "Bill the Bully". As his name suggests, he was a bully. No... he was THE Bully.
"Where do you think you're going", he sneered. Pacing away, I mumbled an apology. "Say that again?" he grinned, gripping me by my collar. I held my breath. The rest of the world blurred away. His penetrating eyes pierced my body and uncovered my fears.
Then, he sent a flying punch at my face. Dodging it narrowly, I retaliated with a blow to the stomach. I had enraged the beast within him. His temples swelled. His pupils contracted. His fists clenched. Descending upon me like the wolf-like Assyrians, he fought with the strength of a tiger and the fury of a fiend. Raining me with blows, he pounded the breath out of me. I grabbed vainly at his legs.

Then, a pair of firm hands drew us apart. Anger was scribbled all over Mrs Lim's face as she cornered us. Her booming voice thundered across the vestibule. The main bulk of her wrath fell upon Bill. However, I also received my earful. Till today, her words still reverberate in my head" "Pay attention to your surroundings and mind your teachers!"

Wednesday, October 19, 2011

It was like any other dreary day in school. I was walking along the canteen stalls deciding what I would have for recess. My younger sister was tagging along behind me, keeping up her incessant chatter. This was when Jim, my best friend, raced past me, screeching "Flash flood!!" he yelled, with profound terror written upon his face.

I whipped around to see a surfer's dream. A twenty-five foot wave towered above us. When I saw that the looming monster was charging towards us like the hordes of Genghis Khan, fear coursed through my body. I hauled my sister upon my back and fled at the speed of light. I flew up the steps which stretched forever upwards, sprinting as fast as my legs could carry me. I barely made it to the second storey when the flood swept through the canteen. However, at that last fateful moment, my grip on my sister loosened as cold sweat lubricated my hands. She slipped away and plunged into the deep flood waters. I gazed helplessly as she struggled to swim.

That was the last I saw of her.

The foundations were crumbling in the force of the waves. The buildings gave way and crashed into the water. Water washed through the corridors. I dashed into a classroo, slamming the door behind me. My desperate attempt was to no avail. The door snapped under stress. Seconds later, I was met by the full might of the wave. I was stunned by the force of the collision. Gasping for breath, I broke the surface, taking in the long-awaited air. Clinging to the remains of a table, I followed the current. "It must have come from Balm Creek" I murmured.

I opened my eyes. Glancing around, I concluded that I was at Lexington Hospital. My weak eyes were not yet accustomed to the bright lights and could not stop blinking. A nurse entered. Seeing that I was conscious, she explained a few things. They had identified me correctly as a Heppner resident who had been swept downstream. The rescue team had located my parents but believed that my sister had died during the terrible disaster.

Wednesday, March 16, 2011

The screech of an owl broke the silence of the night, piercing my ear drums. I woke up with a start. I gkanced around my pitch dark room. Finally, concluding that I would need a light, my hand fumbled for the switch.

I tried the switch, but it did not respond. Despite my efforts, I found that it was in vain. "Another power cut!" I mumbled. Drowsily pulling myself up I staggered to the door. "As dark as a dungeon". I thought as I dragged myself to the kitchen.

How odd. I was sleepy but could not sleep. I pulled the curtains open and was greeted with the snarling face of someone fiddling with the lock. However, it was away in a flash, fleeing into the dark cloak of the night. I, too, was away as fast as my puny legs could carry me. Racing up the steps, I barged into my parents' room, crashing through the door. "Ugly face!" I gasped. My parents were violently jerked from dreamland. They stared at me with glazed eyes, as if in a trance.

Pulling myself together, I briefed them on the happenings. Even before I finished my narration, they had leapt from their beds and phoned the police. The police arrived in the blink of an eye, pulling up the driveway in their police cars. Then, all of a sudden, we heard a loud bark and an ear splitting scream. The same man whom I had seen earlier at the window, burst from a nearby bush with a dog hot on his heels. The police caught the man roughly and immediately recognised him as a wanted man. I know nothing of the rest as I had trudged back to my welcoming bed and had myself a good night of sleep.

Saturday, September 18, 2010

"I would like a bowl of noodles and some vegetables," I said. I was ordering my favourite noodles at the cofeeshop. I passed the hawker the money which he had been eyeing as keenly as a hawk hunting its prey, in exchange for my delicious lunch and some change.

My stomach growled as the fragrance of the tasty food wafted up into my nose. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath of the warm fragrance when all of a sudden, I heard sombody shout, "Watch out!" and before I knew it, I was sprawling on the floor,under a pungent pile of plastic plates. I looked up saw a stunned waiter. I then looked at myself. I was a fright. My shirt was drenched by my own soup, bits of vegetable were sliding down my face and noodles were entwined in my ruffled hair

"There goes my lunch," I thought to myself as I picked up my empty bowls and walked back to an enraged hawker to order some more noodles. This time I asked for a take-away as I was too embarrassed to eat there.

Saturday, July 31, 2010

Frogs are amphibians (an animal that spend the first part of their lives in the water and the second part on land) with slender bodies, smooth skins, strong legs, lungs, webbed feet, and no tail. Frogs use lungs for their breathing. Breathing is very special for frogs as there are no chest and breathing muscles. So, they have to breath by swallowing. Their heart consists of two entrances and one ventricle. Deoxygenized blood from the body comes to the right vestibule and then flows into the ventricle. The oxygenized blood from lungs comes to the left vestibule and flows to the one ventricle as well. This means that there is oxygenized and deoxygenized blood in the ventricle. Some of this mixed blood comes to the lung for oxygenation and another amount flows into the body circulation.

Frogs lay eggs in water. Here, the eggs hatch into tadpoles and breath with gills. Later on, gills are replaced by lungs and its tail drops of. Small tadpoles feed on plankton and vegetables while frogs feed on insects.

Tree frogs

The size of a tree frog is about 1.5 cm to 10 cm. They have got a bright green coloration with white or yellow ventral stripes, which may vary. Tree frogs have strong and long legs. This lets them climb and jump. They are able to cling and walk on narrow branches, as well as jump up to 40 times their own length.

They usually hunt for food during the night. Reproduction starts when the males start to croak and call in order to attract females. Then the female lays eggs and the male fertilizes. This happens from mid April till mid August.

Red-Eyed Tree Frog

The Red-Eyed Tree Frog is a tree frog that sleeps during the day with their eyes closed and body markings covered. When they are disturbed, they flash their bulging red eyes and reveal their huge, webbed orange feet and bright blue-and-yellow flanks. This is called startle coloration. It might give a bird or snake a shock, offering a precious instant for the frog to spring to safety.

“Hey, look. That is a private property,” said John, “I wonder what is behind those strong, thick walls. Maybe there are interesting things going on in there.” “Why don't we have a peek?” suggested Jack, grinning cheekily. As John was very mischievous, he readily agreed to go despite the fact that he was in his bleach white uniform. However, no matter how hard they tried, neither of them could climb over the gigantic, smooth wall in their way. So, they proceeded to search the perimeter for a nice large crack in the wall.

At long last, they discovered an enormous crack in the rock hard brick wall. Jack went first. He tiptoed, grasped the top of the crack and hauled himself up. When he looked down on to the other side, all he saw was was a great expanse of green grass. Then, he looked up and saw an old gnarled rambutan fruit tree. He hollered down to John, saying that there was nothing peculiar on the other side and told him that he was going to pluck some fruits from the overhanging branches of the fruit tree. John thought that this was not a good idea as the fruits that he saw were sour, unripe and half-rotten. He voiced his thoughts. Jack replied that there might be sweeter, jucier and fresher ones higher up. True enough, there were blood-red, juicy, delicious rambutans higher up the tree.

Just as John reached for the first fruit, it exploded on to him covering him with slimy white rambutan flesh. They were being shot at! Soon, another bullet grazed the branch he was hanging onto. Within a split second, a third bullet whizzed past his head barely missing his forehead, and then it hit the branch hanging over his head. The branch fell down and hit John squarely on the head. He lost his hold on the branch and fell like a ton of bricks onto a pungent pile of poo.

He looked up to see the barrel of a gun staring down at him like two menacing eyes. The owner of the gun realised to his horror that these were children, not robbers. The owner of the gun turned out to be a certain Steven Spielberg, the famous director and producer of The Star Wars Trilogy. So, he welcomed them warmly. In fact, he sent them away with three bulging bags of rambutans each and an encouragement to come back. He even gave them a role in his next movie! Ever since then, they both came here everyday.

It was pouring rain. Flashes of lightning streaked across the dark, cloudy skies, illuminating the dull grey streets. The icy winds howled past Jane, chilling her to the bone. The road had become a rushing river, and the canal, a churning sea.

Jane sat on the ice cold metal seats, miserable and terrified by the roaring thunder that rang through the air every time a flash of lightning sliced through the clouds. She sat there like a forlorn little puppy, waiting for her grandmother to fetch her.

It was not long before an old, grey-haired woman carrying a multi-coloured umbrella, wearing a long sleeved shirt trotted into view. Jane was extremely happy. She rejoiced. Knowing that she would not have to weather the cold for a long time more, She beamed, smiling from ear to ear.

However, at the last moment, when grandma was only a stone's throw away, she slipped on the slippery floor, did a somersault and landed with a ear-splitting scream. Jane's heart skipped a beat. She rushed out into the heavy rain to help her beloved grandmother up, but when she reached her, she found that grandma could not even stand! Tears streamed down Jane's cheeks as she tried in vain to lug her obese grandmother home. She was about to give up when a marvellous yet simple idea struck her: run home for help.

Jane decided to fight off her fears of thunder and lightning, brave the rain and wind to get help. She dashed across the streets at the speed of light, racing down the roads as fast as a rocket, but when she finally reached home, there was no one there. So, Jane grabbed a low, flat, wooden, trolley and sped back to the bus stop.

She then rolled her grandma onto the trolley and carted her home. By the time they arrived at the house, Mother had already returned. When she heard everything, she praised Jane profusely as she drove grandma to the hospital where she recuperated. Ever since then, Jane never feared thunderstorms again.